Longtime beer aficionado and home brewer Ben Bredesen has stepped it up, transforming his passion for craft ales into a thriving business. Last year, he took over a portion of the old Fluffo Mattress building on Ninth and Main in East Nashville, re-purposing the factory into a brewery with taproom. From the outside, you could mistake it. The outline of the Fluffo logo is still visible on the brick, but look closer and you’ll see the “bolder, sexier” sign for Fat Bottom Brewing painted over it.

An entrance off the alley descends into a beer garden, an inviting Zen patio landscaped with trees and grasses. Enter through the door on Main Street and you’ll stroll past the stainless steel tanks and hoppy aromas of the brewery. Either way, the approach into the taproom gives it the allure of a tucked away speakeasy or social club.

It’s a small dark room with a lot of wood. Reclaimed pallet boards panel the ceiling and walls. Sturdy hand-hewn tables, benches, bar and stools offer warm spots to plunk down your derriere and quaff a pint. Retro Edison pendants suspended over tables shed just enough light for groups sharing platters of cheese and charcuterie and flights of pale, ruby and brown ale.

One wall showcases Bredesen’s collection of artisan beer bottles from around the world. On another wall hang images of Nashville’s neon sign icons, including Fat Bottom’s neighbor Weiss Liquors. What you won’t see is a television. Instead, listen to the music. On one visit, it’s the White Stripes. Another, it’s early Beatles and Beach Boys: “Twist and Shout,” “Surfer Girl.”

Bredesen’s brews are unfiltered, which contributes to “bolder and sexier” tastes.

Hefty, full-bodied, flirtatious, round — the playful analogy of descriptors for the beers and voluptuous pin-ups gets carried through the Fat Bottom design and names of the ales. His first brew, Ginger, a popular spice-infused wheat ale, was not in the house on either of our visits, nor was Java Jane, a coffee porter. But Ida, Rhonda, Ruby, Black Betty and Bertha have been on hand of late to make your acquaintance.

Which is easy to do: Outside of the customary pints, “The Girls” are available in two-dollar sample glasses, or flights of five. Ida, a Belgian Golden Ale, Ruby, a hoppy American Red and the bittersweet Black Betty Indian Pale Ale had the widest range of appeal with our group, while no one warmed to Rhonda, a rather bitter rye ale. Non-alcoholic imbibers enjoyed the Sprecher root beer.

Come hungry

The food is worthwhile. Bredesen brought on chef Christopher Haston (formerly of mAmbu) to create Fat Bottom’s menu, a concise but well-executed assembly of bites and plates in the pub tradition: bold foods to match the beer. Housemade mustards and aiolis, pickled vegetables, house-cured meats and locally sourced ingredients are highlighted in the composition of the dishes.

Don’t want a burger? The Fat Reuben is one of those sloppy-good sandwiches, dripping with juicy house-cured corned beef, kraut and Russian dressing. Fat pan-seared potato wedges accompany the sandwiches. Sometimes they have a nice brown crust, sometimes not.

In terms of creativity, presentation and taste, the chicken schnitzel plate earns praise all around. Beer and schnitzel make good partners. On this German-derived dish, breaded and fried chicken breast fillets sit on a bed of spaetzle, braised cabbage and a dab of beet chutney. Ask for a bit of house mustard to go with it, too.

Check the blackboards over the bar for weekly specials. It could be Bangers and Mash, made with Porter Road Butcher sausage, or Fat Bottom’s take on Nashville hot chicken. Now, there’s a rockin’-hot sandwich. The fried boneless breast has a lip-punishing crust kicked up with smoked paprika and cayenne. Buttermilk aioli, avocado and a tangle of pickled carrots provide cooling counters to the heat.

Outside of the cheese board and salads, there are a couple of respectable vegetarian options: a spinach-mushroom quesadilla and a veggie burger in the guise of a grilled chickpea patty dressed with crumbled feta, tomato, greens and creamy raita.

Just two desserts are offered: banana-stout bread with crème anglais, and Belgian chocolate pot de crème that was not as chocolate-forward as we would have liked. But dessert is not the draw of Fat Bottom. It’s the confluence of hefty brews and hearty food, in a friendly joint … and come spring, in that sunken beer garden.

Nancy Vienneau is a chef and retired caterer with 25 years of experience. She cooks and teaches at Second Harvest and blogs about her adventures with food at http://nancyvienneau.com. Reviews are written from anonymous visits to restaurants. Negative reviews are based on two or more visits. The Tennessean pays for all meals.